you have to respect the mild insanity it takes to go willingly into the bowels of the earth to bring out a substance that we, as humanity, desperately want, and in some cases need.
salt is one of these items. i explored the Salzburg salt mine 12 years ago on my trip to Germany.
i had a tour guide, as all who go into that salt mine do. it was fascinating, and it was intense.
the miners got around by sliding down wooden shoots. the same shoots they'd send bags of salt down. the wore leather apron, they'd put these aprons on their asses when they rode down the chutes to prevent splinters.
the mine is massive, it has had chapels built in it, places to rest and relax.
and that's just where we got to go as tourists.
the mine, last i heard, was still functioning.
the salt mine, i got the impression, was relatively clean.
certainly there would have to be dust, and refuse. but salt doesn't leave your skin blackened and your lungs tar riddled like coal.
6 coal miners lay trapped, or entombed, in central Utah. 3 more miners were killed trying to rescue them.
it's a bitter and sad day for all the friends and family of those miners. their willingness to go down into the bowels of the earth to bring out a dirty black rock is amazing, and it has to be respected. they work hard, harder than i've ever worked. and i can't even comprehend trying keep up with them on a slow day.
i knew one of the six trapped miners. strange how small the world is.
Don Erickson was the husband of my brother in-laws Arnie and Steve (my sisters married brothers) sister.
while i couldn't say that Don and I were friends, i had interacted with him several times at my sisters house on holidays, and a few family events.
i liked him.
he seemed gruff, quiet, no nonsense. but he'd joke and kid with my brother in-law Arnie, and he like dogs, particularly a cute Boston terrier, a breed i have a fondness for myself.
i feel sorrow for Nelda, his wife. and for my sister and brother in-law, for they were very good friends with Don.
i hope that by some miracle he's still alive and is found, despite the lack of effort now being put forward by the owner of the mine and by the government.
the part of me that is firmly grounded in the reality of the world hopes, his body is found, at the very least to give closure to those that loved and respected Don.
having know the loss of a loved one, i can not imagine the literal loss of a loved one. never knowing for sure.
it's an embittering reality and a terrible tragedy.
for Don, i have nothing but the utmost respect.
his job was scary as hell, and it's something i could never do, but he went to it, and worked hard at it.
for his wife, i give my condolences, i can't even pretend to know what she's going through, and it would be little and insincere of me to claim such.
posted by F.G. Shaw @ 2:17 PM
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